The Energon Pub

[Va'al]

Over at ActorsAccess.com, a new casting call for a Transformers Age of Extinction viral campaign has surfaced. They are apparently looking for four roles, a news anchor, correspondent, Mexican store owner and UK young woman, to take part in a news report about the return of the Transformers - only to be interrupted by Optimus Prime himself. Think you have the requisites? Check out the call below and apply for a role!

TRANSFORMERS VIRAL VIDEO (4 roles)
Industrial
INTERNET ONLY - Industrial Contract Category II
SAG-AFTRA


Production Company: 42 Entertainment
Casting Director: Lisa Fields
Interview Dates: 5/8/2014
Callback Dates: 5/9/2014
Shoot/Start Date: 5/13/2014
Pay Rate: SAG Theatrical Scale + 10%
Location: Los Angeles, CA


SUBMIT ELECTRONICALLY
ASAP

IF POSSIBLE, PLEASE SUBMIT ACTOR'S ONLINE DEMO CLIPS ALONG WITH EACH ACTOR SUBMISSION.

Additional Project Info: SCRIPT SUMMARY ''OUT OF HIDING'' Picking up in present day, years after the TRANSFORMERS went into hiding. The world is stunned as reports from around the globe indicate that the TRANSFORMERS are back.

SCRIPT SUMMARY ''THE INTERRUPTION'' This script represents the idea of an in-fiction television commercial being interrupted by a transmission from OPTIMUS PRIME himself.

NO EMAILS
NO PHONE CALLS
SUBMISSIONS THROUGH BREAKDOWN EXPRESS ONLY

[ NEWS ANCHOR ]
''Out of Hiding and The Interruption'' / Male or Female / Principal / All Ethnicities / 40 - 65; Seasoned and experienced NEWS ANCHOR, who can deliver dialogue and detailed information about the resurgence of the TRANSFORMERS who have come out of hiding. Must be proficient with heavy copy speaking directly to camera. Looking for real NEWS ANCHORS and also experienced actors who can realistically portray the role. Great acting ability. Good faces. Wardrobe Business attire, as if working for a major news organization (BBC, CNN) Rate 2 X SAG Theatrical Scale + (no additional agency fee)

[ CORRESPONDENT ]
''Out of Hiding'' / Female / Principal / Caucasian / 30 - 40CORRESPONDENT is an international reporter who has an ability to describe and report on news relating to the resurgence of the TRANSFORMERS. She is attractive and savvy, and works in the US & UK during the scenes. Great actor, attractive and seasoned with dialogue, great with reading copy and delivering news direct to camera, as well as interviewing witnesses on the scene. Good actor. Wardrobe Sexy business attire. Short skirt, nice blouse. Good hair and make-up. CAMERA READY. Rate SAG Theatrical Scale + 10% agency fee

[ MEXICAN STORE OWNER ]
''Out of Hiding'' / Male / Principal / Hispanic / 55 - 69; Talent for this role must be BI-LINGUAL (Spanish/English). Dramatic and realistic acting style. During the scene MEXICAN STORE OWNER details to a reporter his experience with one of the TRANSFORMERS who destroyed his store. Good actor. Great with dialogue. Wardrobe Casual with an apron. As if working in his own store that day. Rate SAG Theatrical Scale + 10% agency fee

[ UK GIRL ]
''Out of Hiding'' / Female / Principal / All Ethnicities / 18 - 25; Talent must have an authentic BRITISH accent. Looking for UK nationals for this role. Good dramatic actress, great with dialogue who recalls a time in her life when TRANSFORMERS roamed the earth before going into hiding. Great faces, realistic acting styles. Good actors. Wardrobe Casual Rate SAG Theatrical Scale + 10% agency fee

[BeastProwl]

Those are some strict guidlines, Not that I had a shot, but still.

[5150 Cruiser]

Ya, this is typical Hollywood role calls. Curious on who the news anchor is going to be.

[xyl360]

A bit early for their marketing department to be calling this a "viral" video campaign when the actual videos don't even exist yet, isn't it? I mean doesn't the term "viral" imply the past or at least present tense of something being or having gone "viral"?

I get why they call it that. It's because they HOPE and PLAN for it to go viral because it's good marketing to get wide popular exposure on the internet these days via a "viral" video (or anything related to the product being sold) gaining a significant amount of cultural awareness in a short amount of time but it still seems kinda backwards. Of course, intentionally attempting to create a "viral" video or anything viral tends to be 9/10ths wishful thinking anyway, but I guess it's just one more aspect of marketing people and the bassackwards way that they think that rubs me the wrong way.

Release a good product and you will turn a profit as long as at least a small but vocal group becomes aware of it and makes others aware of it. Attempting to generate so much buzz before a product has even been released or worse, when you know that the product you're attempting to sell is sub-par just by getting people to talk about it is at the very least shady and manipulative (the very nature of most marketing in general, in my opinion) and at worst, downright deceitful.

Of course this is a movie we're talking about here and they have to make all of their money up front during the first weekend or they've failed, so I guess I can understand why they do things like this.

So take my words with a mine load of salt, I'm just not a big fan of marketing people.


So TL;DR, blah blah, I don't like marketing gimmicks, blah blah

[Flashwave]

A bit early for their marketing department to be calling this a "viral" video campaign when the actual videos don't even exist yet, isn't it? I mean doesn't the term "viral" imply the past or at least present tense of something being or having gone "viral"?

I get why they call it that. It's because they HOPE and PLAN for it to go viral because it's good marketing to get wide popular exposure on the internet these days via a "viral" video (or anything related to the product being sold) gaining a significant amount of cultural awareness in a short amount of time but it still seems kinda backwards. Of course, intentionally attempting to create a "viral" video or anything viral tends to be 9/10ths wishful thinking anyway, but I guess it's just one more aspect of marketing people and the bassackwards way that they think that rubs me the wrong way.

Release a good product and you will turn a profit as long as at least a small but vocal group becomes aware of it and makes others aware of it. Attempting to generate so much buzz before a product has even been released or worse, when you know that the product you're attempting to sell is sub-par just by getting people to talk about it is at the very least shady and manipulative (the very nature of most marketing in general, in my opinion) and at worst, downright deceitful.

Of course this is a movie we're talking about here and they have to make all of their money up front during the first weekend or they've failed, so I guess I can understand why they do things like this.

So take my words with a mine load of salt, I'm just not a big fan of marketing people.


So TL;DR, blah blah, I don't like marketing gimmicks, blah blah

You're right, in the sense that the "street" definition of "viral" is something that has exploded in popularity, usually surprisingly so, and extremely quickly. But I think in this use of the term, he Video being produced is being called "viral" because its supposed to be a YouTube style video (which they probably can't say because YouTube is copyrighted) passed around their various web outlets the way they did the S7 videos in 2007 etc, as opposed to being a TV commercial or something more professional looking.